Acoustic Guitar Magazine has posted on their website, the consummate summary of the legacy of the developments of instrument building pioneer Lloyd Loar. This is a terrific read; here's a teaser excerpt as columnist Walter Carter discusses the Style 5 Guitars and Mandolins and their influence on American music, from Bluegrass to Rock 'n Roll:

"Loar arrived, at Gibson at the beginning of the company's most challenging period. The mandolin wave, which Gibson had ridden and even driven, ended in the years after World War I, supplanted by jazz, which was played to the rhythm of a tenor banjo. Gibson made a half-hearted attempt at jumping on the banjo bandwagon in 1918 with a new banjo model (which was not competitive with those of established makers) while the company desperately tried to maintain the mandolin market with such innovations as the adjustable truss rod and the height-adjustable bridge, both of which appeared in 1921 and are still in use today. Although Loar was not involved in those two inventions, he did have some ideas for a better mandolin--so much better that Gibson's general manager Lewis Williams thought Loar's new family of instruments (which included mandolin, mandocello, and guitar) would revive interest in the mandolin and restore Gibson to its pre-World War I glory."

Loar-designed Gibsons: L-5 guitar, H-5 mandola, and F-5 mandolin.

Read article: Loar's Legacy
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Posted by Ted at July 21, 2009 6:05 AM